


Monsters of the Subconscious

by Quarantinevibes



Series: Nothing an Adventure can't Fix [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Roman, Can be read on its own, Caring Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Caring Deceit Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders Angst, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders-centric, Deceit Sanders Angst, Enemies to Friends, Fainting, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injured Janus, Insecure Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Panic Attacks, Patton's repression needs its own character tag, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, Thank you so much for 500 kudos???, but there is a sequel!, can be read as romantic/ platonic, injured roman, set after SVSR, that GOOD good in chapter 8, that tag will make sense, this one's a bit of a ride
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:28:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 18,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24237289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quarantinevibes/pseuds/Quarantinevibes
Summary: After the wedding, and his conversation with Thomas, Roman was feeling bittery, jittery, and not very-Oh screw it- Roman was pissed. And when a certain snake comes to talk to him, one wrong move traps them both in a strange place crawling with creatures that want them dead. But with tensions as high as they are, will they be able to work together to escape and maybe work out some issues along the way?Complete!
Series: Nothing an Adventure can't Fix [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1765177
Comments: 726
Kudos: 785





	1. When is it Enough?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! After the latest Sanders Sides episode crushed my soul, I absolutely HAD to write a fic (lmao), hope you enjoy!

Roman grunted as another tree splintered and fell under the weight of his katana, trying to shut out the memories that have been replaying in his head.

 _It was a net loss_.

Another grunt, another tree.

_Thank god you don’t have a mustache-_

Roman swung, his sword caught midway through the thick trunk and stuck fast.

 _Or I wouldn’t be able to tell who the **evil**_ _twin was._

Roman summoned another sword, a larger broad sword this time, and cut through the tree, kicking it so that it would topple with a loud _CRASH!_ for good measure.

Surrounded by a litter of tree trunks and stumps, Roman took a shaky breath and lifted his hand to restore the trees to their original state so that he could repeat his angry slashing. The trees themselves were a variety of different species: redwood, oak, evergreen, balsa. Some had flowers that bloomed in vibrant reds while other were covered in thick vines. The sky above him was a deep navy blue, with smatterings of strange black blocks that had started to appear ever since the wedding.

Ever since Thomas decided to trust a slimy snake over him.

Ever since Roman realized that he was no one’s hero.

It had been a few days and, after sinking out, Roman had retreated into the imagination. The one place where he had total control. Roman lifted his sword and crossed it in an arc in front of him and watched the tree sway and topple. The accompanying crash was satisfying, but not as satisfying as it had been when he first started. He sidestepped a black block, he wasn’t sure what they were but was not intent on touching them to find out.

Roman wiped his brow and spun, letting his momentum take his sword and drive it through another tree trunk. The cut only went partway through and, with the spin, the tree lurched forwards instead of backwards. Roman dove out of the way, the branches just narrowly missing his shoulder.

“Damn,” Roman muttered and dusted himself off.

“Damn is right,” said a voice from one of the tree tops and Roman felt every muscle in him knot and stiffen. He looked up.

In the boughs of one tree, a certain snake was casually lying down on one side while pulling at a vine and side-eyeing Roman.

“Deceit,” Roman seethed.

Janus’s eyes narrowed and he pulled the vine free from one end and used it to slowly descend from the tree top. He spun in a circle, taking in the multiple tree stumps and Roman’s appearance.

“Someone’s been busy, did my tree comment really bother you that much?” he asked and Roman’s fingers twitched.

“What do you want _snake_?” Roman asked, his voice low. He replaced the tree that had nearly taken out his arm and took hold of his sword.

Janus put his hands up in a placating gesture, though Roman knew better.

“Relax, I’m not here to fight. You’ve been in the imagination for a few days now, the others are worried about you.”

“And they sent _you?_ ” Roman hissed, hoping that his words held as much venom as he felt. Janus lifted an eyebrow.

“No. _They_ said that you should be left alone, but _I_ ,” he pointed at one of the black squares that had floated next to him, “am here to tell you to do your job.”

Roman glanced at the square. It glitched briefly, looking for all the world like someone had cut a hole in the air. Roman ignored it.

“I _am_ doing my job. My creative functions are still available to Thomas should he need them.”

Janus tipped his head slightly, “Right, well Remus tells me that this,” he pointed again at the unnerving squares, “means something is wrong.”

 _Of course something is wrong. That something is YOU_ Roman wanted to say, but instead clipped his sword at his belt and crossed his arms.

“You talked to my brother? I thought you said he was evil,” Roman said with an angry squint.

Janus crossed two of his arms “And Remus called me the serpent from the tree of knowledge, which is basically likening me to the devil,” he shrugged, “it’s our dynamic.”

“Well, unless you want snake hunting to be our dynamic, I suggest you leave _Deceit_ ,” Roman sneered and Janus let out a dramatic sigh.

“Oh come _off_ of it will you, you’ve been sulking for days and it’s not doing anyone any good.”

Roman’s eye’s narrowed further, “Well, according to you I’m not good.”

Janus balked, but only for a moment and so briefly that Roman wondered if he had imagined it.

“That’s not- ugh, look,” he pointed again at the squares which had now begun to gather and vibrate at an almost indiscernible low frequency, “these are obviously the product of,” he waved his hands around in Roman’s direction, “whatever this is, so-” the black squares had surrounded them now and edged closer to Janus who shuffled back, “I mean what even are these things?!”

Roman felt an ugly chill shoot up his spine. He didn’t know what they were but they were _wrong_.

Janus moved to poke one and Roman lurched forwards.

“NO WAIT-”

But it was too late. Janus’s poke seemed to trigger the other squares which began to let out an intense, high frequency hum. Janus yelped and tried to leap back but-

“Agh! My cape!” Janus yelled and tried to pull it free of one of the squares, but it didn’t budge. The square began to pull Janus in closer and Janus used two hands to try and wrestle his cape free and another hand to wave Roman over.

Roman blinked at him for a moment before letting out a groan and coming over. He raised up his sword and cut the cape off from the square. Janus squeaked.

“That was my favorite cape!”

“You have more than one?!” Roman yelled back and whipped back around to face the black squares which didn’t seem to like Roman’s interruption.

“What are these things?!” Janus yelled again and backed up against Roman. The squares now circled around them and the humming felt like it was ringing Roman’s brain.

“I don’t know! They seem-” _foul? Unholy?_ Roman searched his mind for the word, but couldn’t come up with it.

“Evil?!” Janus yelled and Roman huffed.

“Right, cause you’re the apparent authority on _evil_.”

“Is this really the time to-AHHH”

The squares had lurched forward, this time encompassing Janus’s hands and Roman’s leg. Roman hacked at them with his sword, but it only passed through the squares harmlessly. The squares pulled and both Roman and Janus lost their footing and were sucked into the void.


	2. The Island of Tongues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman and Janus try and figure out where they are-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two, hope you enjoy :)

Roman liked flying, it was one of his favorite activities to partake in when he was in the imagination. He liked flying.

Not falling.

The squares had opened up and dropped both he and the snake into the sky. Roman braced himself, he flipped once to slow his gain in momentum and landed hard, but gracefully, onto the surface.

“AHHHHH!” Janus screamed and landed on Roman with an _oof!_ He scrambled back, ran all six arms over himself frantically and then looked up in wonder.

“We’re alive,” he said.

“Not for long,” Roman growled and lunged forwards to grab the collar of Janus’s cape, “What happened? What trap have you laid snake?”

Janus blinked at him owlishly and then weakly shoved at his arms, “Tr-trap? You think I planned this?!”

Roman’s angry glare remained and Janus sighed, regaining a bit of his normal, aloof attitude.

“If I wanted to trap you why,” he sneered and shoved at Roman’s arm with all his strength, “would I COME WITH YOU?”

Roman shook his head and released Janus’s collar, “I don’t know, I won’t pretend to understand how your evil plans work, Deceit.”

Janus’s mouth gaped, “My evi- oh my LORD, you are, you’re so-” he sputtered for a moment before throwing his hands up angrily and spinning in a little circle. He huffed, “Where are we?”

Roman glared for a few moments before tearing his gaze away from the snake and looking around him for the first time since they had landed.

The sky was a pale blue that rippled like they were under the surface of the ocean. The grass under them was a pastel purple and felt softer than real grass. They were on a small island that floated in a sea of, what seemed to be nothingness. Around them, other islands floated and softly swayed up and down. Roman gulped. He’d never seen this place, but something in him knew-

“We’re in the subconscious.”

Janus screeched, “The subconscious?! You mean the untamed edge of the mind? The _border_ of existence??” he twisted around and flapped his arms up and down, “How do we get out?”

Roman scrunched his eyebrows and Janus stalked over to him.

“Hel-looo?” he waved his gloved hand in front of Roman’s face, “Earth to Roman? Oh _do_ continue to ignore me.”

Roman smacked his hand away and let out a loud sigh. He rubbed his face.

“I- I don’t know.”

Janus’s eyebrows shot up. “You don’t know?! Aren’t you the imagination guy? Shouldn’t this be, like, your territory??”  
  


Roman shook his head angrily, “The Imagination _is_ my territory, the _conscious_ imagination, the one that you so kindly _ripped me out of_ this-”

This was the subconscious. Roman would sometimes have an undeveloped idea, rest for a bit, and then come back with a sudden slew of storylines to develop, supposedly supplied from the subconscious. Many of Thomas’s creations started in the subconscious, many of his dreams and nightmares manifested from it, and it was also where Thomas’s judgements and instant thoughts came from. It was uncontrollable, something that Roman hated and worst of all-

Roman lifted his hand to test his theory, but the shield he wanted to conjure didn’t appear. Roman groaned.

No conjuring.

“Roman!!” Janus screeched the human half of his face turning red. Roman whipped around to face him. Janus had his hands on his hips, supposedly waiting for him to finish his half formed sentence. Roman rolled his eyes.

“And they call me the dramatic one. Look, I don’t know how to get out and I’m not exactly thrilled to be here either. Much less so because of the company.”

Janus didn’t react to Roman’s snark.

“But if I had to guess at a way out,” Roman started and pointed in front of him. The island that they had landed on seemed to be at the bottom of what looked like a series of islands leading up to an enormous mass with a mountain that broke past the strange, rippling sky.

Janus followed Roman’s finger and his eyes widened.

“Oh my- that’s so _FAR_ ,” he groaned and Roman shrugged.

“Well, better get walking,” he said and stretched and started off. Janus stepped behind him and Roman turned.

“Um. What are you doing?”

Janus cocked his head, “What does it look like? I’m following you.”

Roman huffed. The nerve of this damn snake was getting to him. He took Janus by the shoulders and pushed his back.

“And why exactly are you doing that?”

Janus spluttered, “Why? What do you mean-” his eyes widened in realization, “Wha- you don’t expect me to trek this place _alone_?”

“That’s exactly what I expect, trek away.”

“But I-!” Janus squeaked at a sound from behind them, “I mean, don’t you think it’s safer to have a buddy? I mean, everyone’s always talking about the buddy system so it must have some merit right?” he tried at a smile, but squeaked again at another noise.

Roman smiled, “You know that saying keep your friends close and your enemies closer?”

Janus stared and then nodded hopefully.

“Well I think it’s stupid,” Roman finished with a shove and started in the direction of the next island.

“Roman!” Janus yelled, but Roman ignored him and kept walking.

“ _Roman!_ ” Janus yelled again.

“ROMAN!” Janus screamed and Roman turned around to tell him to _shut up_ and was just in time to see Janus hurtling towards him and tackling him to the ground.

“What the-” Roman started and looked up.

His eyes widened. What looked like an oversized scythe blade had swept over where his neck had just been and Roman looked forwards.

“WHAT THE HOLY HELL IS THAT?!” he yelled, pulled Janus to his feet, and dragged him forwards. He chanced another glance backwards and paled. A chimeric, monstrous mixture of tongues and blades was hovering angrily above the ground and chasing after them. The tongues weren’t only human. Snake tongues, chameleon, hummingbird, and others writhed in the mix. The tongues lashed back and forth and were shouting random snippets of information.

_Fortuitous!_

_Nancy!_

_Corrupt!_

Ah! Corrupt! That was the word Roman was searching for earlier, it had been just at the tip of his tongue!

Oh.

“Ewewewewew what IS this thing?” Janus yelled as they ran, well more like as Roman dragged him.

“It must be a monster of the subconscious, ah, the tip-of-the-tongue monster I dub it!”

“What?!” Janus screamed, hysteric.

Roman pulled Janus to the side and the monster crashed forwards, shook itself and backtracked towards them. Roman pulled Janus and jetted off to the other side. The monster lifted one of its blades and Roman remembered that his broadsword had been at his side when they had been pulled in. He grabbed it and parried the slashing blades.

“It’s, like, whatever Thomas was thinking of but couldn’t quite remember! Like a certain word or the name of a person he had met. They all must congregate here!”

“Why is it trying to kill us?!” Janus squeaked and ducked when one of the tongues shot out and slashed near his face, but Roman was able to block it.

“I-ugh, it must be the subconscious trying to get rid of us. It knows that we don’t belong here.”

“Well we very much don’t want to be here so-”

“I don’t think it cares what we want!” Roman yelled and rolled to the side. They were nearing the edge of the island now, but the next island was at least a twenty foot jump. There was no way they could clear the gap without falling. Roman tried to think and his mind flashbacked to a conversation he had with Logan.

Roman had suggested they devote more time to getting fame and riches and Logan was sputtering angrily, but not saying anything.

_“What’s the matter specs, cat got your tongue?”_

_Logan blinked, confused, “No. My tongue is perfectly fine.” He stuck out his tongue as if to prove it and Roman groaned._

_“That’s not what I-”_

_“Did you know that cats have rather prickly tongues?” Logan asked._

_“I-what?” Roman asked, but Logan kept going._

_“Hummingbird tongues are almost twice the size of their entire body!” he said excitedly and Roman wanted to say that Logan was getting way off topic, but Logan was practically bouncing and Roman didn’t have the heart to stop him. Behind him, his brother had suddenly popped in._

_“Chameleon’s can shoot out their tongues like a hydraulic pump!” Remus said, joining out of nowhere._

_“Anteater tongues are anchored to their sternum!” Logan added happily._

_“Okapi’s use their tongues to wash their eyelids!” Remus countered and Logan had fully been absorbed into the new topic of conversation. Roman rolled his eyes and left them to it._

“Roman!” Janus yelled and pulled Roman from his reverie.

“I have an idea!” Roman yelled and glanced at the creature. It was at least 10 feet tall, which meant that Roman’s idea would only just work. He tried to remember more parts of Logan’s rant, wishing that he had paid more attention. He observed the monster a little more. It seemed that whenever he or Janus moved, it shot out its hummingbird/chameleon tongue. Whenever Roman tried to fight it, it used a strong muscular tongue (maybe giraffe? It was a weird blue color) and its blades.

“Anytime would be great!” Janus yelled and Roman pulled Janus up.

“We need to jump in front of it,” Roman said calmly and Janus blinked.

“Oh well if that’s all- ABSOLUTELY NOT,” Janus yelled back and Roman rolled his eyes and threw Janus over his shoulders.

“Unhand me!” Janus squeaked in indignation and Roman wanted to say that he would be happy to drop him, but he was a prince albeit a broken one. Princes save those in need, even if they are slippery snakes.

Roman ran for the edge of the island and the monster followed. Janus was nearly breaking his eardrum with his screeching, but Roman ignored him and leapt straight up at the very edge. The monster threw out its chameleon/ bird tongue and roman back-flipped over, landing on top of the slimy muscle.

“Wahaha, this is soooo gross,” Janus whined from Roman’s shoulder.

“Hold on!” Roman muttered and the tongue shot forward like he expected until it was just over the edge of the other island. The tongue began to retract and Roman ran forward, squeezed his eyes shut

And leapt.


	3. Out of the Fire and into the Furnace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman and Janus narrowly avoided the tongue monster, but their peace does not last long-  
> Notes: Mentions of Injury

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The incredibly kind response from this fandom will never cease to amaze me. Thank you all so much for your comments, kudos, and support!! Hope you enjoy the chapter ;)

Roman crashed into a sand pile on the border of the next island. Janus landed on top of his shoulder, his screeching momentarily paused due to him choking in a mouth full of sand.

Roman readied his sword and looked back, fully prepared for the tongue monster to chase them. However, it only stood there at the border of its island, hissing angrily.

Janus rolled off of Roman’s shoulder, breathed harshly for a minute, and fixed Roman with an incredulous stare.

“Did you just sashay-step-leap off of a tongue?” he asked.

Roman shrugged. If he was going to make a daring escape, he might as well make it graceful. Janus shook his head and fell backwards and stared upwards.

“That. Was horrible.”

Roman laughed in agreement, the adrenaline pumping through him making him a bit dizzy with glee. Janus’s head whipped around to face him and Roman stopped his laughter.

“What?” he asked and crossed his arms in front of him, but Janus blinked and shook his head. Roman coughed, got up, and dusted himself off. He looked forwards.

This island was bigger than the previous one and he could only just make out the edge of it if he squinted. It was covered in giant sand dunes and tall, climbing clay columns that seemed minutes from crumbling into dust. Even though there was no sun, Roman could feel its rays beating against his back. Roman stretched.

“The mountain island is still a long ways away and if the subconscious is trying to get rid of us, we better start making haste before it succeeds,” he turned back towards Janus who sat up straight, his eyes blown wide.

“We?”

Roman felt his face heat up and he turned back around. “Well I,” he let out a small cough, “You did save me back there so the least I could do is honor your request.”

Janus looked like he was about to say something, but thought better of it. Instead he stood up, shook the sand off of his hat, and began to follow Roman forward, his eyes still wide.

They walked in silence, their footsteps swept away by a mysterious wind and their clothes covered by tiny sand particles. Sweat beaded at Roman’s forehead and pooled at his back, but for some reason Janus seemed perfectly content despite being covered in mainly black clothing.

 _Must be the snake in him_ Roman thought, annoyed as he wiped his brow for the umpteenth time.

Roman’s back was to him, but he could still feel Janus’s expression on him. Roman whipped around.

“Would you stop that?!” he yelled and Janus’s eyebrows shot up. He looked behind him and then back at Roman.

“Stop what?”

Roman gestured towards him and stopped with a finger pointing at Janus’s face.

“That-that expression! You’ve been looking at me funny this whole time!”

Janus looked at him blankly for a minute and Roman almost swore that he saw him blush lightly.

“I-no-what- how do you even know that, I’m behind you!”

“I can feel your staring, Deceit!”

“That doesn’t even make sense!” Janus yelled back and pouted. Roman crossed his hands in front of him and waited for an explanation. Janus tried to walk past him, but Roman caught his shoulders and pushed him back.

“I, it’s just-ugh!” Janus yelled and threw up his hands, "The way you got us off that last island was kind of amazing ok?! You sword fought a monster, did a backflip, and jumped a giant gap all while carrying me like a ragdoll!” Janus kicked at the ground, “It was pretty incredible.”

Roman blinked. Normally, a comment like that would go right to Roman’s head and have him grinning for days, but now he only bristled. He clenched his jaw.

“I told you not to try and flatter me, snake,” he said and let go of Janus’s shoulders. Janus furrowed his brows.

“Flatter- I’m not flattering you Roman! Not everything I say is meant to be a lie or manipulation.”

“Sure didn’t seem like that in the court room,” Roman hissed back and Janus winced.

“I-ok that was,” Janus took a deep breath in, “That was when I thought that the only way I could Thomas to listen to me was-”

“By using me as some kind of foolish puppet?” Roman finished for him angrily and Janus shrunk back.

“I only wanted Thomas to see that the call back was a huge opportunity for him,” he said softly and Roman growled.

“Then why didn’t you just say that?!”

“Well, would you have listened to me?”

Roman felt himself getting heated, “Maybe! Maybe not! Now we’ll never know because you established yourself as a villain so I obviously had to do the opposite of what you wanted!”

“I-”

“And now you come in, in the AFTERMATH, claiming that everything I did was wrong and stupid and oh _poor Thomas_ listening to Roman when there was an obvious answer had he only listened to the newly christened ‘good guy’ DECEIT!” Roman roared.

Janus bristled, “I have a _name_.”

“I DON’T C-” Roman started, but was cut off by a loud rumble. The ground beneath their feet shook intensely, sand particles spreading in every direction. The columns around them creaked and leaned dangerously. Roman whipped around.

In front of them, he could make out a giant sand dune with small patches that were catching the light in strange ways. The dune rumbled more.

_ROAR!_

“Did that sand dune just roar at us?!” Janus asked and Roman rolled his eyes. The dune grew in size until Roman could see that it wasn’t a dune at all. Sand fell off of what looked like a giant lizard with fish-like diamond scales. Roman grinned manically.

He was definitely in the mood for fighting another monster. 

Janus, on the other hand, had other ideas. The lizard creature roared again, lifted one of its two hands, and slashed at them with sharpened, green talons. Janus pulled Roman’s collar back and they both tumbled down the sand dune they were on top of.

Roman grumbled. That was the second time the snake had saved him and he was not keen on there being a third time. Roman squinted, the lizard’s dark blue-green scales were reflecting the light into his eyes and there was something moving along them. Roman narrowed his eyes and was just able to make out strings of sentences floating across the creature.

_That’s something I’m sensitive about._

_I’m insecure about that. Stop joking about it._

_You seem angry at me._

Hundreds of sentences covered the creature’s skin.

“This must be why Thomas gets inexplicably upset sometimes,” Janus said, half in wonder and half in fright.

“I dub it the ‘Rubbed the Wrong Way’ Monster,” Roman mumbled and pulled Janus out of the way of another swipe, “Gawk later, dodge now.”

The lizard creature was nearly two stories tall and loomed over them. Its tail was covered in scales and was about half the size of its body. It curled around them, blocking them from moving backwards. It bared its pointed incisors, the mouth looking more snake than lizard like.

“Well at least it’s not venomous,” Janus mused and Roman whipped around.

“1. That is probably the least of our worries and 2. How exactly do you know that??” Roman asked. The creature shot forward and Roman caught its mouth with his sword.

“It doesn’t have venom pouches and its pupils are round!”

“Great! Glad to know that I’ll die of blood loss instead of poisoning,” Roman groaned and tried to focus on retrieving his sword without getting cut.

“You did ask,” Janus whined and back-pedaled, “Oh! I think I have an idea, Roman. Wait here!”

“I don’t exactly have a choice!” Roman yelled and watched Janus approach the creature’s tail.

_Riiiip_

The creature screeched and flung its head back. Roman fell backwards onto the sand, he grabbed his sword and looked backwards. Janus was holding one of the creature’s giant scales triumphantly in his hand and was beckoning for Roman to come over. The creature, however, had other plans. Its eyes narrowed, its tail thrashing from side to side. It raised his hand.

“Look out!” Roman yelled and tackled Janus out of the way. A sharp burst of what felt like liquid fire erupted on Roman’s shoulder, but he ignored it. He turned and threw a handful of sand into its eye and whipped around to face Janus.

“And why the ever loving hecking heck did you do that? Do you want to piss the thing off more??” Roman yelled and Janus shook his head and pointed in front of him excitedly. Roman followed his finger to where the large sand dune they were on dipped and raised slightly at the edge of the island.

“Look! We’re almost to the other island, and this,” he held up the giant scale and positioned it like a sled, “is our way over.”

Roman was about to tell him that the idea was ludicrous, but the creature had blinked the sand out of its eye and was coming back with a vengeance. Roman let out a long dramatic sigh and threw Janus into the scale-sled contraption.

“What about you?!” Janus yelled.

“Someone has to push!” Roman yelled back, ignoring his burning shoulder. He waited a moment for the creature to come closer…closer… a little more.

The creature roared and slammed its hand down. Roman moved the scale-sled to the right and let the creature’s impact give them the jolt they needed. The scale-sled picked up speed and Roman jumped in.

The creature had turned around and for a moment, Roman thought it had given up. Of course, that wasn’t the case. The creature spun and whipped its tail in their direction, sending them spinning.

“AHHH HOW DO YOU STEER THIS THING??” Janus yelled.

“YOU DON’T!” Roman screamed, grabbed the edge of the scale-sled, and yanked it to the left towards the ramp like structure at the end of the dune.

“Hold on!”

The ramp was fast approaching and the creature reached its hand out again to swat at them, but they were just out of its reach.

They hit the ramp.


	4. Shut

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman and Janus land on the next island-  
> Notes: Panic attack/ descriptions of panic, injury, blood, descriptions of blood/ injury

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello wonderful readers~  
> Just your friendly neighborhood author here saying THANK YOU so much for reading!! Your comments/kudos and support absolutely make my day :D  
> Hope you enjoy the chapter!

“AHHHH WE’RE GOING TO DIE!!” Janus screamed as they flew over the gap between the islands.

 _My hearing is going to die_ Roman thought and pulled up the scale-sled, letting the front of it hit the edge of the next island so that they wouldn’t be flung off. They slid rapidly and Roman could just make out that they were on top of something white. They spun a bit more and crashed into a pile of something soft, wet, and cold.

 _Snow?_ Roman thought briefly before squeezing his eyes shut and willing his lunch to stay in his stomach. Roman opened his eyes and noticed that Janus still had his shut.

“Is it over?” he asked and if Roman wasn’t still fully pissed off with him, he would have felt a little bad about how small his voice sounded.

“Yeah. Yeah, you can open your eyes,” Roman said, but Janus kept them shut and shivered. Roman sighed under his breath and lifted his right hand, but immediately dropped it. It was throbbing painfully and Roman had to hold in a gasp. He lifted his other hand and put it on Janus’s shoulder.

“Hey-uh-it’s ok. Seriously, we’re safe. You got us out-uh. Good,” he coughed, “good job. That scale thing was smart.”

But Janus just continued to shiver. He was muttering quietly and Roman had to strain to hear him.

“I can’t do this, usually I have some control but here I," his voice was gaining volume, "I, one of my main functions is self-preservation and everything in this place is trying to _kill_ us!” he finished with a yell and his eyes shot open. Roman backed away slightly, noticing that both of Janus’s pupils were blown wide and his shoulders were shaking.

Shit.

Was that why the snake hadn’t been acting like himself this whole time? He looked like Virgil after a bad nightmare. What, what was that thing Virgil always did? Breathing! Wait, that’s not helpful of course breathing is important. Ah, exercises! Breathing exercises!

Roman kept his good hand on Janus’s shoulder, hoping that it would be grounding.

“Hey, _hey_ it’s ok. You’re ok, but you need to calm down before you’re not anymore.”

That obviously wasn’t the right thing to say because Janus’s breathing only hitched and got quicker. Roman wanted to smack himself.

“Uh! I mean, just, you need to breathe ok! Um-” he tried to remember what Thomas did to get them out of Virgil’s room

“Um, hey can you, can you breathe in for four seconds?”

Janus tried, stuttered half way, and tried again.

“That’s, that’s good!” _that’s good right?_ “Now hold for seven seconds,” _was it seven seconds?_

Janus tried to follow.

“And em,” Roman reached for a number, “out for eight seconds?”

Whether the number was right or not, Janus’s breathing finally slowed after a few rounds of doing the exercises. He took his hat off (how had that managed to stay on his head?) and looked up gratefully.

“I- thank you Roman that-” he started, but stopped, his eyes widening again. Roman leaned forward with his brows furrowed, was he still panicking?

“Your arm!” Janus screeched, turning an interesting shade of green and Roman wilted back with some measure of relief. He chanced a glance at the throbbing appendage and grimaced.

It definitely looked worse than it felt. While it was still rather painful, more so because the initial adrenaline from the previous chase had worn off, the blood from the wound had soaked his entire shirt sleeve. Some snow had fallen into the wound, making it glisten and appear rough. Janus pulled at Roman’s sash and Roman fell back.

“What are you doing?”

Janus pulled again and Roman pushed him back. Janus huffed.

“We need to wrap it and stop the bleeding!”

“I’m not dirtying my sash for a tiny flesh wound!” Roman huffed back and Janus gawked for a moment before rolling his eyes so hard that his head followed. He shrugged off his cape and ripped at where it had been torn earlier. Roman watched with a raised brow.

“I thought you said that was your favorite cape?” Roman asked and Janus shrugged again.

“It was already ruined,” he said and ripped off a large swathe of cloth and then pulled the sleeve of Roman’s shirt and hissed.

“When did this even happen?”

“Uh, the lizard thing did it, when I tackled you, hold on,” Roman got up and scooped some snow from the pile they had crashed into. He closed his eyes and slowly scrubbed around the wound, cleaning the surrounding skin before taking a deep breath and doing the same to the wound itself. Janus gagged.

“How are you- doesn’t that hurt?”

Roman didn’t reply for a moment. He let out a breath, “Of course it does,” he said through gritted teeth and sat back down, cross-legged. He gestured towards the cloth in Janus’s hand but Janus pulled it back.

“Wha- let me wrap the damn thing!” Roman said and Janus pulled back more.

“Oh because you can _definitely_ wrap something properly with only one hand.”

Roman rolled his eyes, “You’re obviously uncomfortable with blood, just let me do it,” he said and reached forwards with his injured arm by accident. The action set off a slice of pain and Roman held back a groan, squeezed his eyes shut, and put a hand on his knee to ground himself. When the wave of pain had subsided, he looked up and was surprised to see his arm was halfway wrapped. Roman watched warily as Janus finished, wiped his gloved hands frantically on the snow, and then looked back up at Roman.

“Is it too tight?” he asked.

Roman blinked a few times and rubbed his face. He waved his hand around a bit.

“Uh, no it’s good. Um,” he coughed, “Thank you.”

Janus was silent for a moment before he said something very quietly under his breath.

“What?” Roman asked and Janus looked up.

“You’re amazing,” he said, so directly that it took a moment for Roman to process. When he did he groaned and put a hand on his face.

“I told you, don’t-”

“But I mean it!” Janus said, almost desperately, “You- you fought those monsters! You steered a freaking scale-sled! You got hurt protecting me and you helped me calm down before attending to the gaping hole in your arm!”

Roman opened his mouth to speak. To tell him that any prince would do the same, he wasn’t special.

“Roman, you’re so selfless,” Janus said before Roman got a chance to speak, “It was something I hadn’t accounted for when I,” he gulped, “when I tried to use you to make Thomas go to the callback.”

Roman’s eyes lit up at that and Janus put his hands up.

“And I did, you’re right. I tried to manipulate you because I underestimated you. When you choose to go to the wedding, I thought it was only to spite me, and I was so angry, but now I can’t help but…admire your selflessness,” Janus looked down, “it’s everything that I can’t be,” he finished.

Roman was silent. Why would he be telling Roman all this? Was this another ploy to build his trust? But no, what motive could he have? They were both stuck in this place with nowhere else to go. But how could Roman trust him?

After a long pause, Roman let out a soft sigh.

“You’re wrong, I’m not amazing,” he said quietly and dragged himself to his feet. He walked forwards.

“But I-!” Janus protested and Roman shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck.

“It’s- I know you’re being genuine,” Roman said. It was hard for him to admit and it didn’t mean he still wasn’t angry, but even a master liar couldn’t fake the look in the other side’s eyes. Janus cocked his head in confusion.

“Then what do you mean?”

Roman sighed again. How could he answer that without breaking down? He wasn’t awesome, far from it. He hurt Thomas, made the wrong decision at every turn, cost Thomas his hopes and dreams despite that being his _one_ job.

“I disappointed Thomas,” Roman settled on, picking his words carefully, “and Patton-”

“Patton is not disappointed in you,” Janus said and Roman scoffed.

“Why wouldn’t he be? I was absolutely no help when he turned into a giant bull frog and it’s not exactly easy to tell when Patton is upset,” Roman said and looked away from Janus, not wanting to continue the conversation anymore.

“Roman, Patton-”

Roman sighed, “Look, I don’t want to talk about this anymore, ok?”

“No, Roman, Patton-”

Roman huffed angrily, “Seriously I-” Roman started, but Janus grabbed his face and turned it. Roman blinked.

The island itself was on the smaller side, but in front of him was what looked like a giant amusement park. The sky directly above was dark and a Ferris wheel the size of a skyscraper was situated with dozens of sparkling lights covering it. There was a Christmas tree in front of it and huge gift boxes wrapped in holographic wrapping tied neatly with giant bows. Intermittently, the tops of the gift boxes would fly off in a rain of confetti before slowly floating back down.

How the hell had he missed that when they first arrived? Roman started to lift his arm to scratch his head and winced.

Ah. Right. Gaping hole in the arm.

Immediately in front of them was a large gate and Roman craned his neck to read the letters on top of it.

 _WELCOME TO PATTON-LAND!_ It read.

Roman took in a deep breath.

“What the fuck?”


	5. Welcome to Patton Land!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman and Janus explore Patton-land  
> Notes: description of injury

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!  
> I absolutely loved reading your comments on the last chapter! Honestly, when I wrote this story I was a bit nervous because the take on Roman and Janus's dynamic was a bit different, but I'm so happy to see that people kind of like it??  
> Anyways, thanks for reading/ commenting/ kudoing, hope you enjoy the chapter!

Roman blinked at the sign, wondering whether his injury was causing him to hallucinate.

“Patton land? What does that mean, is Patton here?” he asked and Janus shook his head and put a finger to his chin.

“I don’t think so,” he started, shivered, and wandered in. Roman followed and tried to think of what this island could possibly be a product of.

He stopped, his mind flashing back to when he was watching the footage for his brother’s debut video.

_THAT’S what repression is??_

Roman grimaced. If this island was what he thought it was, it was not going to be fun.

“Hey look! This is so fun!” Janus yelled pointing to a giant stuffed teddy bear. He giggled and put his head next to it.

“Roman! Hey Roman, look! I’m being eaten!”

“If only,” Roman said, though his words strangely held no bite. Janus ran across the park and poked an animatronic otter who was the lead of the supposed animatronic band.

“Hey, maybe we don’t go around and poke things in the place that’s trying to kill us?” Roman said, but Janus didn’t listen.

“Oh, come now, Roman. Have a little fun!” he said and strummed the otter’s guitar. The otter creaked loudly and Janus jumped back.

“Ah-eh, maybe you’re right,” Janus said.

The otter stiffened and the rest of his bandmates raised their arms and began robotically playing their instruments. They all had wide smiles on their faces, but the tune that they played was dissonant and Roman wanted to cover his ears. The otter opened its mouth to sing.

“I’m sad,” it said, not even singing.

“Uhhh-” Janus started, but the otter continued.

“I’m sad, I’m sad, I’m sad,” it kept going and Roman snatched Janus away from the band with his good arm.

“C’mon, let’s just try and find a way out of here. This place makes me wish for the tongue monster back,” Roman said, fighting off a wave of dizziness, and dragging Janus. Roman looked around, making a mental note to have a serious talk with Patton when, or if, he ever got back.

“Oh, games!” Janus said after walking for a few minutes and Roman fixed him with a harsh side-eye. Janus shrank back and Roman sighed.

“I’m surprised that all of this is making you so excited,” Roman said and Janus perked up.

“Well of course! Who do you think was the one who made Thomas play video games and ignore his work? Though these games are somewhat…lacking,” Janus said and grimaced. Roman looked at the row of empty booths that made a path towards the Ferris wheel. There was bobbing for apples, but when Roman looked into the basin, he gagged. The apples were all rotten, crawling with maggots and worms. The balloon pop booth had darts with sharpened ends on both sides and all the balloons were deflated.

“Wedding ring toss?” Janus questioned and pulled one of the rings at a booth. Suddenly, the booth lit up and an animatronic cat popped up and grabbed his hand. Roman jumped up and grabbed his sword, then dropped it immediately when his shoulder blazed with pain.

The cat inched its face close to Janus, its eyes glowing an unnerving neon yellow.

“Ring…wedding ring, ring, wedding, I, Thomas, Wedding,” it twitched and continued droning in a robotic voice, “wedding, wrong, wrong, choice, I, Thomas, wrong, fault, my fault my fault my fault.”

Janus squeaked and used four of his six hands to try and pry the cat off, but it wasn’t budging. Roman groaned, braced himself, and grabbed his sword, his shoulder aching in protest. He hacked off the cat’s robotic arm and yanked Janus backwards, but his back hit something warm and…furry?

Roman twirled back. The stuffed teddy bear that Janus had been playing with was behind them and its eyes glowed red.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” it repeated in a monotone voice and the bear slashed downwards towards them. Roman ducked, but the bear hit his injured shoulder and sent him and Janus flying towards the Ferris wheel.

“Ugh,” Roman groaned, tried to get up, and promptly fell back down. The bear was hurtling towards him, but his head was spinning crazily and he couldn’t seem to regain his footing.

“Roman?” Janus questioned, his face close and his eyes full of concerned. Why did he look so concerned? Roman looked towards his shoulder, he didn’t remember wearing red sleeves today? Someone was shaking him, which did not feel great and he tried to shove the person off. He wanted to sleep, sleep sounded great, a quick nap. Roman closed his eyes and set his head on the person in front of him. He let out a soft whine.

The person in front of him stiffened a bit and Roman felt himself being lifted.

“You really need to cut back on the bagels,” said the person and Roman huffed and leaned his face into the person’s chest. Suddenly, they were flying again, Roman liked flying. He opened his eyes to see that they had landed inside one of the Ferris wheel baskets.

Wait. Why was he in a Ferris wheel?

Roman shook his head.

“Ugh- what?” he looked up to see an oversized teddy bear with razor sharp claws barreling towards him.

Ah. Right, now he remembered.

“How do you make this thing go??” yelled Janus from his right. Roman groaned, grabbed Janus’s cap with his good arm, and flung it towards the Ferris wheel lever. The lights began to blink rapidly and the wheel lurched forwards and into the air. Janus looked down.

“Ro-Roman? Are you ok??” he asked, his eyes looking a little longingly at his abandoned cap and then snapping back towards Roman, “Oh wow, your shoulder does _not_ look ok.”

Roman looked down. The bandage had been soaked through and the edges of the gash were a sickly yellow, a putrid smell wafting from it.

Roman groaned.

“ ‘M fine,” he looked down to where the bear was patiently waiting for them to come back to the ground, “But, I think we should get off this ride soon.”

Janus looked around, lit up, and then grimaced.

“What?”

“I have an idea,” he said simply. Roman groaned.

“Last time you said that, we went scale sledding with a lizard monster.”

Janus nodded, “Well, this time isn’t so great either,” he pointed to the gift boxes. Their lids were still shooting high into the air every few seconds and slowly floating back down. One particular box was situated near the edge of the island. Roman nodded.

“Ok, yeah, on three,” he groaned and pulled himself to his feet, but buckled immediately. Janus grabbed him, one hand wrapping around his waist and the other holding his good hand. Roman wanted to say that he was fine, but his legs would probably buckle again and they didn’t have time for his stubborn pride.

“One…two…”

The bear roared and the gift box lid began to vibrate, indicating that it was about to blow.

“THREE!” Janus yelled, pulling him out of the crate and landing on the gift box lid which had shot up. Janus grabbed the edge and, mirroring Roman’s steering from before, pulled it up and let the tip of the lip down into the edge of the next island. Unfortunately, his skills didn’t exactly match Roman’s and the lid hit the very edge, leaving Janus and Roman dangling at the end of the island. Janus kept two hands on Roman, but because of their new perilous position, he had to keep one under his bad shoulder.

“ _AGGHH_!” Roman screamed, arching his back as the biting sensation in his shoulder mutated into an unbearable burn. Janus was saying something, but Roman could barely hear him over the roar of blood in his ears.

“Hold still! Hold still!” Roman made out from above him, “I-I’ll get us up, just hold on.”

Roman’s vision tunneled, his mind filling with _pain, pain, pain._ He barely registered when he was back on solid ground again. He looked up to see a man in sunglasses standing over him slurping something.

“ ‘Sup bitches?” was the last thing he heard before passing out.


	6. Sleep's Private Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman and Janus meet someone who is not trying to kill them-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone :D  
> Thank you so much for reading/ commenting/ kudoing, I hope you all are staying safe in quarantine!  
> A quick note in case some people don't know: The character in this chapter is Remy (not Remus) Sanders. He's the embodiment of sleep from the 'Shorts' videos (his name is fan given)
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter :)

“Is he dead?” said a voice.

“Drop-dead gorg, maybe,” said another voice and Roman groaned. He blinked, his vision was spotty and his shoulder-

Roman blinked again.

His shoulder felt fine.

Roman shot up and rolled his shoulder experimentally, feeling almost giddy when no pain came with it.

“Roman!” yelled the voice that Roman recognized. Roman gave Janus a small smile and looked around.

He was on what seemed to be a beach island. Long palm trees reached up to the sky and the sound of the ocean washed around him. He looked back and saw a short building- was that a Starbucks?

“Morning, sunshine,” said a voice. A voice that Roman knew. He looked towards it.

“Remy?” he asked and the embodiment of sleep nodded happily.

“That’s riiiight babe,” he lifted his hand and conjured a small beach chair. He snapped his fingers and the coffee in his hand turned into half a coconut with a tiny umbrella sticking out.

“Remy here fixed your shoulder,” Janus said and Roman blinked.

“Wha-how- where are we?”

Remy laughed and snapped his fingers again. A small coconut appeared in both Roman’s and Janus’s hands and it wasn’t until then that Roman noticed just how thirsty he was.

“You’re on my private island, gurl!” Remy exclaimed and lounged backwards, “granted, if you wanted to visit me, hauling yourselves over the edge of my beach half dead and covered with blood is not such a great look. Maybe call ahead next time?” Remy snorted, “Oh, listen to me, _call._ Don’t call me. Text.”

Roman blinked again and cast a confused look at Janus and then back to his shoulder.

“Oh that? I have full domain over this little part of the subconscious, so your shoulder was really no big,” Remy said and waved his hand, refilling Roman’s drink.

“So, there uh, there isn’t anything on this island that’s going to try and kill us?” Roman asked cautiously and Remy laughed.

“Maybe my killer looks, but that’s about it. Not everything in the subconscious is some rabid monster,” Remy slurped his drink, “This is my dream domain so to speak. Nothing I don’t want gets in.”

Janus lit up, “If you’re so powerful here, could you get us out?”

Remy grimaced slightly. He poked his tiny umbrella, changing the color from red to yellow to white.

“Ah. No can do babe. I only have full control over this island and,” he pointed at the two of them, “you two don’t belong here at all. I can pull myself out of here, but I can’t do the same for the two of you.”

Janus wilted back and let his shoulders sag. He slurped his drink loudly and moved his hand towards his head, searched for something, and dropped his shoulders. Remy let out a snort.

“Well, I can help you with something,” he said and snapped again. Instantly, Roman’s filthy clothes were replaced with his normal attire and Janus’s torn cape was fixed and his bowler hat was nestled back on his head.

Janus squeaked and waved a hand towards Remy, “Oh, Remy, you really get me,” he said and Remy smirked and leaned forwards.

“Honestly, I’m surprised you two have made it as far as you did,” he turned towards Roman, “How did you even get here anyways?”

Roman winced and toyed with his straw, following the loops in it with his fingers. He explained to Remy about the mysterious black squares, how they had sucked them in and dropped them in the subconscious. He then told him how they somehow made it across the three islands, just barely making it each time. Remy put a finger to his chin.

“Hmm, black squares, huh?”

“Do you know what they are?” Roman asked and Remy winced, though it was hard to tell because his face was covered with his sunglasses.

“I, well do you remember the time Thomas had insomnia?”

Both he and Janus drew back at that. It was horrible, three days without sleep had left all the sides in total disarray. Patton had baked stacks and stacks of cookies, Logan had begun to mumble all the elements of the periodic table over and over again, occasionally singing them, and Virgil had initially started screaming, but then settled down to watch 72 hours of conspiracy theories. As for Roman himself, well, he wasn’t very princely without his beauty sleep.

“Yeah,” Roman said and Remy sighed.

“Well, I was working through some stuff, you know? When Thomas was little, he _loved_ me. Like, he was all about nap time and like, bitch same. But then he started doing all these things like video games and,” Remy shuddered, “ _studying_. It kinda felt like he didn’t need me.” Remy paused for a moment and Roman almost swore that he looked sad, but he perked right back up.

“Well! Now he’s come crawling back to me, so all’s well that ends well!” Remy finished with a cheer.

“Uh. What did that have to do with the black squares?” Janus asked and Remy turned.

“Ah! Right! Well, during that time those weirdo black squares would always be floating around here all buzzy and annoying.”

“How did you get rid of them?” Roman asked, leaning forwards slightly, his drink forgotten on the floor. Remy laughed again.

“Virgil caught me in the consciousness one time and basically pounded a sense of self-worth into me and look at me now!” Remy did some jazz hands, “It made me my fabulous self and I don’t know, those black squares just disappeared.”

Roman’s brows furrowed. It was a clue, but it didn’t really help Roman figure out what the squares were and why they had been following him in the Imagination. Remy summoned a few plates of food for them to eat and Roman and Janus dug in until their bellies were full. Janus was regaling Remy with a more detailed explanation of their adventures, reminding Roman just how much the other side enjoyed theatrics.

“And then Roman slashed at the tongue monster like this!” Janus slashed in front of him dramatically, “And then Roman fought the lizard thing like this,” he slashed upwards, “and _then_ Roman drove a scale-sled through the air!” Janus mimed himself being thrown up and then crashing down. Remy smirked.

“Sounds like Roman is pretty amazing,” he said with a raised eyebrow and Janus sighed.

“Yeah,” he said and looked off for a moment before blushing, “I-I mean well, anyone who could do that would be amazing!”

Roman scratched at the back of his head, “I wasn’t that great, he’s exaggerating,” he told Remy and Remy shook his head.

“Nah, babe. You _are_ amazing,” Roman tried to protest, but Remy held a finger up, “Ah-ah, no arguing. Sorry, I don’t tell that to just anyone so you saying anything against it is a. invalidating my very correct opinion and is b. rude.”

Roman blushed, but didn’t say anything back. For some reason, when it was coming from Remy, he could almost let himself believe that he wasn’t a complete screw-up. Almost. Remy studied Roman’s face for a moment, before his expression softened (which was still hard to tell because of the sunglasses).

“Well dolls, you can rest here as long as you need, but when you’re ready,” he pointed above them, “I have something that may help shorten your journey.”

Roman looked up. A large, plush pillow more than 15 feet wide was floating above them, casting a large shadow against the ground. It had small silver tassels and had the words “Remy’s Boss Bitch Ride” embroidered on the bottom.

“This,” Remy started, “will take you to a shortcut cave at the base of the giant island up there,” he pointed to the last island. Janus jumped up.

“What?? You can take us to the last island?! Why didn’t you say so, that’s amazing, let’s go!”

But Remy shook his head, “I can’t come with you babe, unfortunately I expended a bunch of energy on the healing and the conjuring so-”

Janus shook his head, “Well, still! Once we get to the last island, we’re practically home free!”

Remy put his hands on Janus’s shoulders and forced him to sit down, “Ok, first, you need to, like, chill out a bit. Look, the last island isn’t like the others. It’s the gateway from the subconscious to the consciousness and there are _others_ that aren’t like yours truly. Beings you don’t want to mess with.”

“I mean, we did fight a bunch of monsters before getting here,” Roman said, a bit confused and Remy shook his head and did something that was the most surprising thing Roman had seen since coming to this godforsaken place.

Remy took off his glasses.

Remy looked Roman directly in the eyes and Roman wanted to back away a bit. His eyes were swirling with greys and pinks, they made Roman’s head spin, but he tried to focus on what Remy was saying.

“Listen to me. Once you get to the cave, walk straight forward into the mountain. Don’t take any detours, just keep going until you reach a clearing with a bunch of tiny, overly friendly mushroom people who make you want to tear your hair out.”

“Wha-” Janus started, but Remy put up a finger.

“No interruptions! Look. There is something _very_ dangerous in that cave. Ok? And not the fun kind of dangerous, the avoid at all costs kind. If you see mist, run in the other direction, got it?”

Roman gulped and nodded. He had never seen Remy look so serious before. If it was enough to scare him, that was definitely enough reason for Roman to avoid it.

Remy put his sunglasses back on, shielding them from his eyes, “Good!” he said casually, as if the dark, foreboding tone in his voice never existed, “Then, if you’re ready?” he asked as the pillow floated down and Roman nodded. He and Janus boarded the giant flying pillow. It buzzed and hovered upwards. Remy waved at them from below.

“We hope that you enjoy your flight aboard Remy’s Boss Bitch Ride. Please keep all limbs inside the vehicle at all times and oh-” he looked up from his glasses, “try not to puke, Bon Voyage!”

“Wait what do you mean try not to-” Janus started, but the rest of his sentence was ripped from his throat as the pillow bulleted forwards and they left Remy’s roaring laughter behind them.


	7. Mist Opportunities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman and Janus finally make it to the last island, but will they be as home free as they hope?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello!  
> The boys have finally had a bit of a rest and are ready to continue on their adventure! The next few chapters are some of my favorites, so I really hope you enjoy :D  
> Thanks for continuing to read and for all your comments and kudos!! 💜💜💜

Hundreds of islands hurtled by them. They were difficult to see at the speed they were going, but Roman made out a few. One had strange cherry-looking floating creatures that blinked curiously at the two sides racing past. One was a giant bubble with what looked like a tiny ocean inside. One was just a white cube, but it was making a strange noise and Roman was glad that they didn’t have to visit it.

The world’s worst plane ride finally came to a stop and Roman leapt off of the pillow and onto the ground. He waited for his snake companion to follow, but when he didn’t Roman looked back up. Janus was sitting on top of the pillow-ride, still clutching the edges of it for dear life. Roman snorted.

“Uh. We’re here,” Roman said and Janus lit up, but still didn’t open his eyes.

“Oh. Oh good. Yes, great I’ll be right there,” he said, making no move to get up for a bit. Finally, he took a few steadying breaths and got up.

And nearly toppled off.

Roman caught him easily and he wanted to burst into song. His shoulder didn’t hurt! He didn’t even notice how badly it was making it feel, but now that it was healed, Roman felt like a new person.

Janus opened his eyes, looked up at Roman who smirked back down at him, and squeaked while jumping out of his arms. He started to splutter, but then he looked towards the cave entrance.

“Whoa.”

Roman turned to look as well. The cave entrance was adorned with dark, blue-green crystals and tiny silver gem stones. The surrounding forest seemed to bend towards it, the trees and branches all crowded at its sides. Roman waved at the pillow-ride which did a small flip and zipped back towards Remy’s island. Roman wiggled a few of the glowing crystals then grabbed and wrenched one out of the wall. Janus watched curiously.

“While I’m all for pilfering the cave for its riches, do we really need the extra weight?” he asked and pointed at the crystal. Roman rolled his eyes and started inside.

“It’s not for that. We don’t know how dark the cave is going get, we may need the light.”

Janus nodded and followed him in, “Ah, well that one’s pretty sharp. Maybe we should get a different one?”

Roman frowned and tried to pull at another glowing crystal, but none of the others were budging. He shrugged, “Guess we’re stuck with this one.”

“Guess so.”

They continued inside the cave in a bit of an uncomfortable silence. The cramped cave walls echoed their footfalls and the lack of distractions made Roman very aware of the quiet.

“So uh,” Roman started and Janus startled backwards at the sudden noise, “How did we end up on the Ferris wheel back in Patton-Land?” Roman asked.

Janus gaped for a few moments, “Oh uh, we jumped on top of the bear and used the momentum to launch into the Ferris wheel crate.”

Roman frowned, “I don’t remember jumping on top of the bear?”

Janus rolled his eyes, “That’s because I was carrying you.”

Roman stopped and raised an eyebrow.

“ _You?”_

Janus huffed indignantly and continued forwards, “Yes _me_. I may not be all muscle bound like you, but I do have six arms, I can manage to carry your weight,” he rolled his shoulders back, “albeit, with great difficulty.”

Roman winced and followed so that they were walking side by side, “Ah, I suppose that makes sense. Sorry about that,” he finished with a mutter. Janus shook his head.

“No need to apologize, Roman. You’ve practically been dragging me this whole time, it’s only fair that I do the same.”

Roman blinked and scratched at the back of his head, “Actually, there is something I need to apolog-” he started, but Janus cut him off.

“Oh look!”

Roman looked up. They had walked into a cave chamber. The ceiling was still low, but the cave had split into a main path and a path just to the left. Janus was pointing to something shining in the mouth of the left path.

“It’s a blunter crystal!” Janus exclaimed.

Roman nodded, “I’ll go grab it.”

Janus started to follow, but then caught Roman’s sleeve, “Wait, didn’t Remy say no detours?”

Roman hummed and looked back and forth between the two paths. The crystal was only a little ways into the left path and Roman shrugged, “I’ll grab it and walk right back, I’m sure it won’t be a big deal,” he said and started in and Janus followed nervously. Roman looked back.

“You don’t have to come with, you know,” he said and Janus huffed.

“I know.”

Roman rolled his eyes, walked in, and grabbed the newer, blunt crystal. He turned to the side at his right and held up the crystal.

“See? No harm no-”

He blinked. The crystal had suddenly disappeared in a burst of mist and the cave started to slowly fill with the same fog.

“Uh, I think it’s time we go,” Janus said and pulled Roman back towards the junction, but the cave began to rumble loudly and they broke into a sprint. Roman looked up at the entrance of the left path.

“Whoa!” he yelled and yanked Janus’s collar back just in time to avoid being crushed by the boulders that fell from the ceiling. Large brown, dark green, and crystal rocks rapidly began to fill the entrance, blocking their way back. They slipped and crashed against each other, sending shards and debris outwards. Roman held a hand in front of him to shield his face and, when the rumbling subsided, Roman got up angrily and kicked at the barrier.

“Oh _come_ on!” he yelled and shoved at it angrily. He slashed at it with his sword a few times and Janus grabbed his hand.

“I don’t think that’s doing anything, maybe we should just continue forwards?”

Roman shook his head, “Remy said no detours, and he said something about dangerous mist and this,” he waved his hand at the fog that was collecting around them, “fits the bill!”

He kicked at the rock again, but his shoe caught and he fell backwards. Janus yelped and leaned over him.

“Are you ok?!”

Roman groaned, “ _UGH_ ,” he got up and tried to kick again, but Janus held him back. Roman shoved him off, “I’m so _stupid_. Remy specifically said no detours, and what do I do at the first detour? Take it! And now we’re stuck and it’s all my,” kick, “stupid,” kick, “FAULT,” he kicked one more time and a rock slide out of place. Roman straightened, but another rock quickly took its place.

Janus pulled him forwards more forcefully, “Hey, stop that. You’re not stupid and if you don’t recall, I was the one who spotted the fake crystal in the first place so let’s just,” he gestured in front of him, “try and get out of here?”

Roman sighed and let his shoulders slump. They walked forwards, keeping close because the fog was making it kind of difficult to see and the dim, sharp crystal in Roman’s hands was only doing so much. Roman squinted and held up the crystal.

“Is that a light up ahead?” he asked and Janus perked up.

“Maybe it’s a way out!”

They quickened their pace and went towards it. Upon reaching it, Roman had to reach up and shield his eyes, the blinding light a stark contrast from the darkness of the cave. He blinked a few times to regain his vision.

They had walked into a large chamber with a shut, round door at the end. The floor below them was tiled in navy blue and the walls were a deep, emerald green adorned with small, glowing, crystal decorations in the shapes of glaciers and mountains. The tops of the walls had carved displays with silver pots. The ceiling looked like the cave, but other than that it was as if they had walked into a room in a palace.

Beside him, Janus shivered.

“I-is it just me or is it re-re-real cold in here?”

Roman rubbed his arms. It _was_ a bit chilly, colder than Patton Land. He turned and frowned, Janus’s lips were turning blue.

“I don’t d-d-do well with co-cold.” Janus said in response to Roman’s worried expression. If Janus didn’t look so uncomfortable, Roman would have snorted. Just how closely did this side relate to a snake?

Roman rolled his eyes and untied his sash, wrapping it around Janus’s neck like a scarf. Janus’s eyes widened, but before he could say anything, a loud _SLAM!_ from behind them made him jump and a large, chamber door had closed them inside.

Roman turned. He handed Janus the crystal and had his sword at the ready in his hand.

Mist began to flow from the pots that lined the ceilings and the room was rapidly filling with it, but the mist was congregating and thickening in the middle of the room. It curled around them, long tendrils of fog whispering past them before flowing into the form in the middle of the room. Janus was pulling at the door and Roman’s eyes narrowed as the mass in the room took the shape of a slender, humanoid creature.

Its long hair flowed in dizzying shades of greys and silvers and its skin was a pale ivory. It stood and straightened its dress, the rippling fabric looked like silk, but floated over it in a way that reminded Roman of storm clouds. Under its curtain of hair, two too-dark, too-red eyes stared, bright and hungry. Its lips curled into a pointed smile.

“Hello, Roman.”


	8. Chills

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who is this mysterious new creature?  
> Notes: description of blood/ injury

Roman shivered, the Mist’s piercing eyes seeming to dig straight into his soul. He felt a chill go down his spine. Was that what this was? The inexplicable chill that Thomas sometimes felt crawl up his back and wrack his body?

The Mist approached Roman and Roman backed up against the door, holding the sword out. It reached towards him and Roman slashed forwards, his sword passing harmlessly through the Mist’s form. Roman blinked, and suddenly he was in the center of the room.

“Hey!” Janus yelled, “What are you doing over there?”

Roman blinked again and shook his head, “It wasn’t really my choice!” he yelled back. He tried to move, but found that he was rooted to the spot. The Mist laughed near the door, dissipated, and reappeared next to Roman’s face.

“Oh, my dear prince,” it crooned and brought its hand back up. Roman jerked back, but it caressed his face, the sensation making Roman shiver, “How good of you to visit me.”

“Who’s your creepy friend?!” yelled Janus.

“I have no clue!” Roman yelled back.

The Mist reeled back and laughed. Or what Roman assumed was a laugh, really it sounded like thousands of screeching tires and bells all falling over each other.

“Oh, but don’t you?” asked the Mist, turning circles around him, “I have many names. Some call me fear, others doubt and you,” the Mist inched closer to his face, “have many of those.”

“Leave him alone!” Janus yelled and bolted towards them. The Mist smirked and snapped its fingers, freezing Janus to the spot. The Mist turned back to Roman.

“I’ve always wondered,” it hissed and curled one hand around his face. Roman squeezed his eyes shut, but the mist used its other hand to pry his eyelids open, “what it would be like to see through the eyes of a broken prince. Perhaps I shall find out before doing you a favor and getting rid of you forever.”

The Mist’s neck had grown impossibly long, though its face hadn’t moved. Roman whimpered.

“I’m not broken,” he whispered. The Mist laughed its horrible laugh again.

“Oh no, no, not fractured, not shattered, not-”

“Shut UP!” Janus yelled from his place and lobbed the crystal at the creature. Surprisingly, the crystal made a solid hit on it, grazing its arm and sending it reeling back. The creature hissed and lurched towards Janus.

“Well, aren’t you just delightful,” it sneered, its pointed mouth smiling in his face.

“I try,” Janus said with a shrug and the Mist lit up.

“Well, if you insist on getting in the way then,” the Mist continued and put its fingers near Janus’s eyes, “You can help.”

Janus struggled away from its grip, but it lifted itself up, dissolving fully into a cloud of fog before rushing into Janus’s eyes.

“AGGGGHHH-” Janus screeched in agony and Roman wrestled his invisible restraints.

“STOP IT!” Roman yelled, “STOP!”

Janus fell backwards, rolling and clawing at his eyes, but the Mist kept going until it had fully disappeared, leaving Janus breathing heavily in his spot. He looked up and Roman gasped.

His eyes were glowing the same sickly-red as the mist and when he smiled, his teeth shone as sharp points. Janus picked himself up easily from his spot and walked casually over to the sharpened crystal that he had lobbed before.

“Well,” he spoke, but his voice wasn’t his own, “This is certainly poetic. The villain slays the hero or it is,” he walked towards Roman and Roman felt his restraints slipping, “the hero slays the villain?”

Janus leapt forwards and Roman freed his arm in time to block his strike, but the Mist’s strength was not human. The sword clattered out of Roman’s hand and skittered across the tile floor. Roman dove for it, but Janus kneed and tackled him down, knocking the breath out of him.

Roman looked above him where Janus was looming with the sharpened crystal, held in both hands just above Roman’s chest.

“Slain by your enemy, how does it feel?”

Roman struggled, trying to free himself, “He- he is not my enemy!”

“Oh?” The Mist said with a small frown and Roman tried reach for his sword.

“I thought he was, but,” Roman shook his head, “he may be cunning and mischievous and weirdly resourceful,” almost, he was almost to his sword, “but he’s also a giant scaredy cat and an enormous nerd so,” his fingertips grazed the handle, he could almost grasp it-

The Mist sneered and brought one hand down hard on Roman’s, knocking the sword out of the way. Roman held in a scream and tried to kick it off.

“Oh, that was a cute little speech, but it looks like you’re out of time,” it sang and its eyes narrowed, “goodbye, little Prince.”

The Mist brought the sharpened crystal up in his right hand and Roman squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself, ready to scream.

_“AAAIEEEEEE”_

Roman opened his eyes, confused. That wasn’t him who screamed.

He looked down towards his chest which, very notably, had no stab wound in it. He looked up.

The Mist was shrieking and erupted out of Janus with a scream hundreds of times worse than its laugh, sounding like crunching bones and shattering glass. It lurched forwards one last time towards Roman before bursting into thousands of water droplets and disappearing.

“Wha-?” Roman started confused and looked up to where Janus was grinning down at him.

“I’m not a nerd,” he said, his words joking but his voice was too strained, his smile too tight. Roman looked down to where Janus’s hands were clutching half the crystal, the other half buried in his-

Roman gasped as he watched red bloom under Janus’s dark clothing. Janus pitched to the side, the action ripping the crystal out of his stomach and Roman’s breath hitched.

“ _JANUS!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!!  
> I wanted to put the notes at the end for this chapter because I want to explain the tag for chapter 8 lmaoo- One of my favorite tropes is 'character refuses to say other character's name until something bad/ deadly happens to other character' 😬
> 
> Also! Check out this WONDERFUL fanart of a soft Mist!Janus by @attackthepinata!!🤩🤩🤩   
> https://attackthepinata.tumblr.com/post/622398988734414849/quarantinevibes2020-i-think-i-owe-you-a
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading and for all your wonderful comments/ kudos💜💜 Hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	9. Self Preservation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Notes: Descriptions of blood/ injury, also Roman swears a lot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello amazing readers!  
> This is going to sound weird, but I really enjoyed screaming in the comments with you all last chapter lmaooo- thank you for the enthusiastic comments, the kudos, and just for reading! Hope you enjoy the chapter ;)

“Shit, shit, shit, shit,” Roman half shrieked, half whispered.

He caught Janus before he hit the ground.

“Shit, _shit,_ ” Roman said, unable to say anything else. Without the crystal as a stopper, the wound was pouring out blood. Roman unwrapped his sash from Janus’s neck and pressed it against the wound. Janus’s eyelids fluttered and he looked up at Roman and then down at his stomach with bleary eyes.

“Yer sash,” he slurred, “ ‘s getting dirty.”

“I don’t care about the sash!” Roman screamed, hysteric, “Why, why did you do that? Why would you do something so _stupid_?”

Janus blinked some more, “Was gonna hurt you,” he said.

“SO?!”

Janus shrugged and shivered, “didn’t wanna, didn’t-” he blinked, more slowly now, “ ‘M tired,” he said, “Pythons can sleep for 18 hours a day. That sounds nice,” he finished and let his eyes slip shut.

“Hey! No no no, hey wake up don’t,” Roman gulped, “you can sleep later, ok? Just try and keep your eyes open, try and-”

The cave rumbled angrily underneath them. The tiles cracked and splintered and the round door at the edge of the room split open, but the ceiling was coming down with it.

“Shit!” Roman swore again, grabbed his sword, and gathered Janus in his hands, wincing when the other side whimpered. He rolled out of the way of a falling boulder and the impact shattered the tiles, leaving spider web cracks on the floor.

Roman made a beeline for the exit.

“ ‘M the lord of lies,” mumbled Janus from Roman’s arms.

The pots on the ceiling began to burst, raining clay and crystal shards over them. Roman could feel some of them cut his arms and legs, but he used his back to shield Janus’s face.

 _CRAAACK_ -

Roman looked up and jumped back, a large portion of the ceiling was about to come down, and if he let it, it would block their only exit. Roman gathered Janus, set him over his shoulder, and grabbed his sword in the other hand.

_CRRRRAAAACKKK-!_

Roman readied himself, the ceiling dropped and Roman threw himself, using the sword to vault himself over the rock, just narrowly making it through the exit before the entire cave crumbled behind them. Roman breathed in and out heavily. On any other day, he would look around asking if anyone else had seen how _awesome_ that was, but today it was the furthest thing from his mind.

Roman turned around, they were back in the forest, now somewhere up the mountain. The trees blinked with curious orange and yellow lights. The foliage was too thick to see the sky, but the lights made it look as if the stars were just in reach. Roman carried Janus a bit further into the forest, making sure to put a good amount of distance between them and the cave. Janus didn’t stir in his arms and Roman hoped that he was only sleeping.

Roman set Janus against a tree.

“We made it out,” he said and shook him a little.

Janus didn’t move.

Roman sucked in a breath, his sash had already been bled through and Janus was looking paler and paler by the minute.

“Dammit, dammit Janus!” he shook him harder and ripped off his arm sleeve, pressing in against the wound, “Wake up you stupid, crazy bastard!”

Janus went limp and Roman put an ear to his chest. There was a heartbeat, but so, so soft. So shy and hidden. He put his forehead to Janus’s head, the high temperature he felt made Roman’s throat constrict.

“Ok, ok this is fine. We’ll just, we’ll just go back to Remy’s island and get him to heal you!”

_Right. The island that’s probably hundreds of miles away on a ride that already left?_

Roman punched the ground.

“You’re, aren’t you supposed to be self-preservation you stupid asshole?! What about this is self-preservation??”

Janus doesn’t respond, the slow, quiet heartbeat the only barely-there indication that he was still alive. Roman felt hot tears splash against his cheeks and he wiped at them angrily.

This was all his fault. The cave, the crystal, the detour, even the black boxes that sucked them into the subconscious, probably. He had tried so hard to do good, to be heroic but here, someone, someone who had tried only to help since this whole ordeal began, was bleeding out because of him. And all he could do was _cry_.

“Cry baby.”

 _I know_.

“He’s dying.”

 _I’m sorry_.

“Man, that guy looks rougher that the skin on a sunburned shark!”

“When was the last time you showered?”

“SOOOO-weee, y’all smell right nasty.”

Roman blinked.

His thoughts were being weirdly loud and… kind of annoying. He looked around, but didn’t see anyone.

“Howdy stranger!”

Roman jumped back, one hand protectively in front of Janus and the other holding out his sword.

“Wow, pointy!”

“Maybe he’s into cosplay?”

“Cool!”

“Lame.”

Roman looked down towards the source of the voices. Dozens of mushrooms, about a foot in size, were at his feet. Roman crouched and saw that weren’t mushrooms at all, rather, small grey creatures with rounded heads and oblong bodies wearing mushroom hats. Despite their almost cute appearance, Roman’s eyes narrowed.

“Who-” he started, but was cut off by one of the larger mushroom creatures with a mustache.

“We’re snap judgement!” he cheered, “I’m Samuel, this here is Ruth, Clarence, John, Stephen, Brett, and Elena. And you are?”

“I-uh,”

 _Just keep going until you reach a clearing with a bunch of tiny, overly friendly mushroom people who make you want to tear your hair out_ Remy had said.

Roman lowered his sword, but only a little bit, “Ro-Roman.”

“Well Ro-Roman, can I call you Ro-Ro? I’m going to call you Ro-Ro. You and your friend there look do be in dire need of some medical attention!”

“And a haircut,” added Elena.

“Uhh,” Roman started, backing away slightly. He really, _really_ didn’t want to trust anything in this place, but- he looked back at Janus whose wound was already soaking through his shirt sleeve- he didn’t really have a choice.

Roman gulped, “Lead the way.”


	10. The Forest of the Mushroom People

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Notes: description of injury

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> I'll keep this opening note short because I actually have some important news in the end notes so PLEASE take a look at that!  
> -I know I say it each time, but I truly mean it when I say THANK YOU for all your comments/ kudos/ support, they really do keep me writing and reading :) Hope you enjoy the chapter ;)

Roman had Janus gathered in his hands and, if he wasn’t actively paying attention, he may have dropped him.

The mushroom people had led him into a large clearing with trees only a little larger than Roman was tall. The trees all blinked with orange and yellow lights, the ones in the trunks were actually windows with lights on the inside. The trees had black wires criss-crossing from each other and whenever one of the mushroom people called, a small box zipped along the wire and from tree to tree like some kind of transport system.

“Set your friend down over there,” said Samuel, motioning towards a bed of large, white, pillowy mushrooms. Roman wished he listened to Remus and Logan’s rant about poisonous mushrooms that one time, but settled for cautiously setting Janus on top.

Roman felt something cold hit his arm and he whipped around.

Elena was holding a wooden spoon and a pot of something brown and pasty, it oozed purple and had chunks of leaves sticking out. Roman raised an eyebrow and looked at his hand where she had slathered it.

“It’s a recuperative medication! Good for all subconscious injuries!”

Roman glanced at his arm where a large cut, probably from the collapsing cave, was covered. He hadn’t noticed until now, but it was definitely stinging less, though it wasn’t magically healed like with Remy. He shook his head.

“I’m fine. Help him first.”

Elena waved her spoon, “Ruth, Clarence, and Samuel are all helping your friend. You need to take care of yourself too!”

Roman shook his head and plopped himself down next to where the mushroom people were covering Janus’s wound in the strange mixture.

“Ooh, ok, we got a stubborn one,” Elena said haughtily and smacked Roman’s head with the back of her spoon.

“Ow! I said I’m fine!” he yelled and Elena glared. Roman let out a sigh.

“I _am_ fine but,” he held out his hand, “I’ll put the goop stuff on my injuries,” he muttered, “Thank you.”

Elena smirked and handed him the pot. Roman dipped a finger into the mixture, the coolness feeling pleasant against his hot skin. He rubbed some on his cuts and the larger gashes on his arms and legs. He looked at Janus.

The wound was now fully covered in the medical goop, but Roman could still make out the red outline of the edges and the angry black bruise that was forming under it. Janus’s precious bowler hat was sitting next to his face which was less pinched and feverish than when Roman had initially set him down. Roman watched his chest rise and fall, a little more strongly each time.

“He’ll be A-Ok, ya know. And he’ll keep breathing even if you don’t look, friend.”

Roman looked down. Samuel was at his side, sitting on a nearby tree-stump.

Roman sighed, “Right now the only thing I can do is watch,” he observed the mushroom people bustling around, wrapping Janus’s wound in bandages, “he got hurt because of me, you know,” Roman said softly, “He stabbed himself so that he wouldn’t hurt me.”

Samuel let out a low whistle, “Well that sounds mighty selfless of him.”

Roman let out a bark of laughter, but it sounded angry and wrong and almost like a sob.

“Yeah. Yeah, and he called me the selfless one.”

The angry tears were back and Roman dug the heel of his palms into his face and groaned. Forget being a hero, Roman wasn’t even much of a prince anymore. What kind of prince would let something like this happen?

_The wrong kind. The broken kind._

The thoughts didn’t hurt as much as they slotted itself into a dark part of Roman’s mind, as if they were always meant to be there. Roman can almost feel his heart compress under the weight of them, tried to feel the pain of it because he deserved to hurt.

Roman gestured towards Janus, “Why is it,” he starts, speaking more to himself, “that everything I touch ends in ruin? Why can’t I just do good? Just for _once_?”

“You’re plenty good,” Samuel said without hesitation and Roman rolled his eyes.

“You can’t possibly know that.”

“Mm, well, hey Brett! Brett!” he called over to one of the mushroom people and pointed at Roman, “Does he seem like a good person?”

“Sure does!” said Brett instantly.

“Thanks Brett!” said Samuel and waved him away. Roman stared at him.

“That proves absolutely nothing,” he said and Samuel shook his head.

“Like I said, we’re snap judgement, the first impression that ya get when ya first see someone and we are seldom wrong, though people often ignore us until they realize it. If I see you and say you’re good, then you’re darn near sure going to be good.”

“Then why doesn’t it feel like I am?” Roman asked, feeling a bit ridiculous to be arguing with a mustached mushroom, but not having much of an alternate option.

Samuel sighed, he jumped off his tree stump and patted Roman’s knee, “Ro-ro, look. Good people can still make mistakes, otherwise they’re not _people_. If ya make a mistake, alls ya gotta think about is whether you regret it and how are you,” he pointed at Roman, “gonna make it right?”

“I don’t know if I can,” Roman sighed and straightened when he saw Janus stir. He quelled his raging thoughts, the ones that slammed ice into his heart, and got up.

“But I think I know where to start.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooh, what do you think Roman is going to do?
> 
> Ok! I have some exciting news that I was going to announce at the end of this book, but I've been getting some comments and I also realized I have to change some tags (also I got excited/ impatient)  
> 1\. This fic can be read as romantic/ platonic depending on preference  
> 2\. This fic CAN be read on its own but...  
> 3\. There will be a sequel! Focusing on Janus and Roman's relationship after the events of this fic (as well as the aftermath in general). This is the first time I've written a sequel, but I'm really excited for it :D
> 
> Whew, sorry for the long end notes, hope you liked the chapter!


	11. 1-Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Janus has played too many video games

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, last chapter, cursor nervously hovering over 'post': Is it pretentious to think people will read a sequel? Will people be mad that I didn't pick between romantic or platonic for this first fic? Ahhhhhhh---
> 
> The comments: *bashes me over the head with love and support*
> 
> Me: o-oh.
> 
> THANK YOU everyone for all your sweet comments, they made me so happy and definitely hyped me up 🤩  
> Hope you enjoy the chapter ;) !

Janus groaned and Roman made his way to his side.

“Morning,” Roman said and Janus blinked at him and tried to get up.

“Ow,” Janus said and Roman laughed and helped him into a sitting position.

“Ow is a bit of an understatement, I think,” Roman said with a small smile, “How are you feeling, Janus?”

Janus felt at his stomach clumsily, “I-uh, hurts but not too-” he stopped and looked back at Roman, his eyes narrowing, “who’re you?”

Roman felt his heart drop, did the crystal somehow how amnesia inducing properties? Did the shock cause him to lose his memories? Did-

“Because the Roman I know doesn’t smile like that much anymore. And he definitely does _not_ use my real name.”

Roman nearly keeled over from relief. He took Janus’s hat from next to him and placed it on Janus’s head.

“Well let’s just say that taking a knife wound for me meets the criteria for me using someone’s real name.”

Janus patted his stomach, winced slightly, and looked up from under his hat.

“Even if it’s girly?”

Roman winced. He really was the biggest of assholes, huh?

“Your name is _not_ girly, Janus and,” Roman shooed away a few curious mushroom people and sat on a stump, “It doesn’t matter what your name is, telling us took a lot of trust and bravery. I should have never made fun of that, and I- I’m really sorry. I was just…upset. Not that that’s an excuse.”

“Upset-?” Janus pushed quietly and Roman opened his mouth to respond, but Samuel and Ruth had reappeared at their side.

“Looks like you’re doing better!” Samuel cheered. Janus looked down at the mushroom people. The back at Roman. Then down at the mushroom people.

“I promised myself I’d never do shrooms,” he whispered and closed his eyes. Roman laughed.

“Janus, this-uh, these are the mushroom people Remy mentioned. They’re a bit blunt, but they are a noble clan that helped us in our time of need. Clarence, Elena, and Brett helped lead us here and this is Samuel and Ruth,” he said, pointing to them.

Janus blinked, “And is her last name Ginsburg?” he muttered.

“What?” asked Roman.

“Nothing,” Janus said, looked at where his wound had healed a bit, then at the mushrooms, and back at Roman, his face a mask of horror. He pulled Roman’s sleeve close to him.

“Did I eat one of them?” he whispered frantically.

“What? No!” Roman yelled, pulled back, and held back a laugh at how Janus’s face melted in relief. He looked towards the mushroom people.

“Uh, thank you,” he said and cleared his throat, “I guess there are good shrooms after all.”

The comment seemed to please them and Samuel tapped Roman on the shoulder.

“Well, you folk are welcome to rest here long as you need, but I reckon you consciousness folks wanna get home right quick?”

Janus nodded vigorously.

“The only way off this island, then,” said Elena, “is up.”

She pointed up the mountain, where the peak lay beyond sight, past the border of the sky. She grabbed a stick and drew a triangle in the ground and stabbed it in the middle.

“We’re here,” she said and dragged the stick to the right and up, “And right ‘bout here is the entrance to the inside of the mountain.”

“What does the entrance look like?” Roman asked and Elena raised an eyebrow.

“Trust me, you’ll know when you see it.”

Janus and Roman exchanged a look at that. Elena banged Roman’s head with her spoon again.

“I said trust me!” she yelled.

“Ow, ow! Ok I trust you!” Roman grumbled. Janus giggled a little, the ice in Roman’s heart melting a bit at the sound, and then Janus held his side with his eyes squeezed shut.

“Oh-ow don’t make me laugh!”

“Don’t laugh at my pain!”

“Pay attention!” Elena yelled again and banged Roman’s head again.

Elena explained that once they got inside the mountain, there would be a clear path on how to get up. There would be a chamber that opened up to the sky and, once they touched it, they would return to the consciousness.

“All we had to do was touch the sky?” Janus asked with a frown and Elena shook her head.

“No, no. Only the sky at the peak bridges the gap between the subconscious to the conscious,” she hummed and walked behind one of the tree stumps, coming back with a large stick with a rounded end.

“Here,” she said and handed it to Janus, “Your injury may be better than when you were half-dead, but I reckon it still hurts something fierce.”

Roman’s eyebrows shot up at that and Janus flinched back and grabbed the stick.

“Ah, thank you. I do like a good staff!” he said, nervously avoiding Roman’s gaze.

Samuel beckoned Roman over to him and Roman cast one more suspicious glance at Janus before making his way over. Samuel gave him some fruit, a map, and a few bandages ‘just in case.’ Roman smiled. They may have been judgey, but Roman felt overwhelmingly grateful for the mushroom people. He’d have to convince Remy of their merit one day.

Roman walked over to where Janus was getting up with the help of his staff. He smiled at Roman.

“Ready when you are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two quick reference notes in case you don't play video games/ aren't from the US because I don't want anyone to feel left out:
> 
> 1). The mushroom's names are all based off of supreme court justices (which is why Janus asks if Ruth's last name is Ginsburg). No political commentary there, I just thought it would be funny loll  
> 2). Janus asks if he ate one of the mushrooms because in Super Mario, one of the mushrooms gives extra lives when you eat it


	12. The Jungle Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Janus threatens to throw Roman off of several surfaces-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pssst  
> hey you-  
> yeah you-  
> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING!  
> (hope you enjoy the chapter ;) )

“I can carry you.”

“For the hundredth time, Roman, I’m _fine_ ,” Janus said with an eye roll.

“Seriously, you don’t weigh that much,” Roman said.

“I’ll try not to take too much offense at that,” Janus huffed, “And for the last time, it only hurts a little, I _promise_. Besides, you’re pretty cut up too and” he held up a hand, “if you call them ‘just flesh wounds’ I will throw you off this mountain.”

Roman pouted. They had been trekking up the mountain for some time with Janus leading the way: map in one hand and staff in the other. The forest terrain had transformed into almost jungle-like as they went deeper into the mountain. Branches turned to vines and strange, purple flowers that were almost as tall as Roman took the place of the forest mushrooms and shrubbery.

Despite what Janus said, Roman could make out small whimpers and grunts and Roman was almost sure that Janus insisted on taking the lead so that Roman wouldn’t see him wincing. He didn’t know why Janus was being so stubborn. For someone with six arms, the other side really was surprisingly light. So small. So frail.

So breakable.

Roman shook his head.

“Janus-”

Janus whipped around, so fast that his hat nearly fell off, and Roman’s eyes widened in surprise. Janus gave him a sheepish smile.

“Sorry, sorry,” he took the lead again, “still not used to it,” he mumbled.

“Janus,” Roman continued, “about you’re injury, I’m sorr-”

“Roman so help me if you say sorry one more time, I will kick you down a flight of stairs.”

“But I-”

Janus stopped, turned, and crossed his arms in front of him, “Roman, I chose to do what I did because I _wanted_ to. Besides, what’s one more time saving your hide?”

Roman frowned, “What do you mean one more time?”

Janus turned around and continued forwards, but Roman could almost feel his smirk, “Oh, you know. There was tackling you away from the tongue monster, getting us off the desert island,” Janus was putting up fingers for each time, “carrying you from the bear and, oh yes, getting stabbed!”

Roman sputtered and followed him, “Ok, first of all, _I_ was the one who got us off the first island, _you_ nearly got your head hacked off by the lizard monster, and I had to drag you out of the Mist monster’s cave!”

Janus turned around and Roman fully expected him to fire back, but he only uncrossed his hands and put them on his hips, his smirk turning into a smile, “ _Exactly_ , so let’s call it a tie with the whole who saved whom thing, ok?”

Janus waved his hand in the air, signaling for them to continue, and marched forwards. Roman blinked at Janus’s back. Was…was this Janus’s way of making Roman feel better?

Roman shook his head and followed.

The jungle brush was getting thicker, soon Roman would have to take lead to whack the branches away. The whole scenario was giving Roman major Indiana Jones vibes and he couldn’t help but start humming the theme song.

“Dum da dum dum, dum da da. Dum da dum dum, dum da daa daa daaa~”

Janus snorted and Roman stopped, pouting again.

“What?” he asked accusingly and Janus waved his hand at him.

“Nothing, nothing. It’s just-it’s been a while since I’ve heard you sing,” Janus said, his smile suddenly turning strange. Almost…fond.

Roman’s face reddened a bit and he looked away.

_“ ‘Cause the Roman I know doesn’t smile like that much anymore.”_

“You said something similar to that when you woke up,” Roman muttered.

Janus sighed and nodded, “Well it’s true, isn’t it? It’s…” he squinted at his map and ducked his head, as if to avoid Roman’s gaze, “A lot has been going on lately, with Thomas, not,” he waved around him, “all of this. And you-”

Janus straightened suddenly and actually looked at his map.

“That’s strange,” Janus said and stopped. He turned the map and then his head and looked around a bit, “The map says there should be a large, landmark tree here with fluorescent pink leaves.”

Roman shrugged, almost thankful that the conversation had been cut off, “Maybe we missed it?”

Janus raised an eyebrow, “We missed a tree with neon leaves? I don’t think so, it’s supposed to be right there,” he said and pointed a few feet to his right to where there was only a black hole of thick shrubbery.

Wait a minute.

Roman squinted, there was no shrubbery. There was only a black tear in space where the tree was supposed to be. The tear seemed to notice Roman’s staring. It vibrated and stretched and grew in size until it resembled the black squares that had sucked them into the subconscious in the first place. Roman looked behind it and sucked in a breath,

The supposed ‘large, landmark tree’ had been reduced to a stump with its pretty leaves strewn about as if caught in a tornado.

The square was coming towards them.

“Uhh, Janus, was that on the map?” Roman asked and backed away slowly.

Janus put a finger to his chin and widened his eyes in exaggeration, “Oh, um let me see here I think it- NO OF COURSE NOT, RUN!”

The square shot forwards and Janus caught Roman’s collar and pulled him to the side before hissing in pain and clutching his stomach. Roman grimaced and scooped him into his arms, making a mad dash forwards on their path. Janus coughed.

“Roman! Unhand me, I’m fine!”

“It’s faster this way anyways! Just keep an eye out for the entrance!”  
“But I don’t know what it looks like!”

“Elena says you’ll know it when you see it!”

Roman looked back and nearly tripped over,

The square was no longer just a tear in space. Bony, shadowy hands were climbing out of it, reaching towards the pair racing up the mountain. The vibrating was turning into something else and if Roman strained, he could almost hear voices.

_Useless_

_Worthless_

_Broken Prince_

Roman stopped straining, paling despite his rapidly beating heart.

“Roman?” Janus asked and Roman shook his head. The voices got louder.

_Why do they even need you around?_

_You never contribute anything useful._

_All you do is hurt everyone._

_It’d be better if you disappeared._

“-man, Roman!” Janus called out. Roman blinked, his eyes stinging and the taste of salt hit his tongue. When had he started crying? Roman looked down and Janus’s eyebrows were furrowed heavily and he moved a gloved hand to wipe Roman’s cheek. Roman jerked his face back.

“It’s fine, I’m fine,” he said and shifted Janus in his arms so that he could run easier. Janus looked behind them from his new position.

“WHAT THE HELL, WHEN DID IT GROW ARMS?” he screamed.

“Yeah and it’s gotten real talkative too,” Roman said. He felt his spine tingle and Roman jumped to the left. An arm from the square had reached out and swiped right where his head had been.

“But I don’t hear any,-” Janus started and then, “Roman! Roman the entrance!”

Roman felt his shoulders sag with relief. He braced himself for what was probably another low, damp cave entrance with dirt walls and pointed rocks. He turned to where Janus was pointing.

“What the hell?”


	13. Who are you?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Notes: descriptions of blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3<3<3<3  
> ^ Hearts for all you lovely readers, thank you so much for your support!

“What the hell,” Roman said, stopping in shock.

“Roman!” Janus screamed and Roman shook out of his stupor and dodged the shadow hands again.

The entrance was a simple glass sliding door with a brass knob and a plaque on top of it that read: NOW LEAVING THE SUBCONSCIOUS.

“This. Was not what I was expecting,” Roman muttered, though he had to hand it to Elena. The door itself was pretty self-explanatory.

Roman spun and sidestepped the square again, letting his shoulder crash into the door and backing up against it once they were inside.

“Whoa,” Janus said and Roman silently agreed.

Like Elena had described, the inside was a large chamber that opened up to the sky. But the room itself was, in a word,

Beautiful.

The middle had a large dust-gold pyramid with a flat top and stairs on all sides, leading just up to the sky which rippled and caught the light of an invisible sun. The walls were dome shaped, a dark navy blue with glittering white and silver specks whose light shone like stars and bounced off of the soft sand beneath their feet.

“So all we have to do is climb the stairs and touch the sky, then we’ll be home free?” Roman asked and Janus nodded, picking himself out of Roman’s arm. He spun back to face him.

“We’re almost there-!” he stopped, “Uh, where did the square thing go?”

Roman looked back. He had assumed that he was holding the door against the monster, but it seemed to have completely disappeared.

“Well, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth I always say,” Janus said and started towards the pyramid structure. Roman began to follow him to the base of the stairs when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. But Janus was in front of him so who-

Roman jerked back. The shadowy hands from the black square had grabbed his shoulder and held him down fast.

_Worthless_

_Villain_

_Worthless_

_WORTHLESS_

Roman tried to let out a scream, but one of the hands had snaked its way around his mouth, it crawled its way into his throat, scraping past his teeth, and another one took its place in front of his mouth. When he looked back, the black square was right behind him, hundreds of arms snaking out of it sobbing and screaming. They took hold of Roman’s shoulders and dragged him backwards.

_Who are you?_

_Nothing._

_Worthless_

_A Villain_

Roman clutched at the arm, twisting one of the index fingers away from the front of his mouth. The arm fell away.

“I’m not a villain,” Roman said, voice shaky and weak and not at all convincing.

Janus turned around with a frown, “What? Of course you’re not what are you- HOLY SHIT.”

Janus ran over and started swiping at the hands, but he only passed through them.

_Who are you?_

_Evil_

_Evil_

_You’re **Evil**_

“Who said that?!” Janus yelled at the last whisper, seemingly being able to hear it now, “Roman I can’t get a hold of it!”

Roman kicked at the arms, they were solid under his foot and on his shoulders and around his throat.

“Jan-Janus,” he wheezed out, “The sky, get to the sky.”

Janus blinked for a moment and frowned, “Oh _hell_ no, not without you!”

Janus reached around Roman’s waist and unclipped his sword, using it to slash at the darkness, but it wasn’t having any effect.

**_Who are you?_ **

**_A Villain_ **

**_You can’t do anything right_ **

**_Broken_ **

The hand around Roman’s throat constricted and pulled back. Roman's hands flew up to try and pull it off. Janus’s eyes widened and he lunged forwards to grab hold of Roman.

“I don’t know who you are, but if you don’t _shut up_ ,” Janus grunted and leaned backwards, trying to keep Roman from slipping away, “Roman is not broken and he is NOT a villain!”

But wasn’t he?

Wasn’t he broken? He wasn’t able to come up with content original and smart enough for Logan. He wasn’t able to help Thomas achieve his hopes and dreams. That was his main purpose and he couldn’t do it.

Wasn’t he a villain? He couldn’t help Patton when he was looking for answers about Thomas’s morality (he only stood gawking as his friend erupted into a giant bullfrog, chest heaving, eyes pinpricks of pain), couldn’t fight his brother when he was picking on Virgil (he could only lie there, dreaming of a faraway place).

**_What are you?_ **

_Broken._

**_Who are you?_ **

Roman choked on a sob.

“A villain,” Roman whispered. He let his hand fall from his throat and stopped struggling. With the lack of resistance, the shadowed hands were able to pull him back easily, and so suddenly that Janus only barely was able to grab Roman’s hand before he was sucked into the void beyond.

“Shit-!” Janus screamed, “Shit, Roman listen to me! You are not a,” he grunted and pulled back, his heels digging against the ground, “villain! You’re not evil! I made a stupid comment, but it was a lie!”

 ** _All lies have a seed of truth_** purred the shadow and Janus visibly bristled.

“Don’t tell me about lies! I am the Master of lies, though with all the,” Janus pulled Roman forward and fixed two other hands under his shoulders, “BULLSHIT you’re spouting out, you seem to be vying for my title! You- _AGH_!”

Janus balked, the shadow had pulled again him hard and the resulting stretch made him double over in pain. He didn’t let go of Roman, but he put an extra gloved hand on his wound.

It came away with bright red. The color stained into his gloves.

**_You see what you do Roman_ **

**_You hurt everyone around you_ **

**_What are you?_ **

“Evil,” Roman said. It wasn’t just Janus. He had hurt Virgil when he wouldn’t stop picking on him. He hurt Logan when he ignored him. He hurt Patton by trying to side against him. Roman pushed at Janus’s arms, trying to get him to let go.

“Wha- stop it Roman, I’m,” he coughed, more of that horrible red on his glove, “I’m going to lose my grip!”

“Good!” yelled Roman, his voice straining against his throat, “All I ever do is hurt people! Virgil, Patton, Logan, Thomas,” he looked at Janus’s stomach where the material of his clothes was frayed and ripped, “you.”

“No you don’t! You’re good, you-”

“Stop it!” Roman screamed, “Stop saying that! Why does everyone keep saying that? You don’t know me! I’m evil, I’m a villain, I’m broken, let me _go_.”

His note went hoarse as he screamed out the last word. Why couldn’t he understand? They were better off without him.

Janus’s face was a mask of pure horror. Good. Now he finally realized what a monster Roman was.

“You are not-,” Janus started, his voice shaky and oh God was he crying?

**_See what you did?_ **

“SHUT UP!” Janus yelled and wiped at his eyes. He stared straight at Roman and held up one hand, the one that had been holding his side.

Janus snapped.

All of the yellow gloves on his hands disappeared. Janus closed his eyes, and when he opened them again they were both humanoid and both glowing bright yellow.

“Roman,” he started, his voice layers deeper than normal. Roman snapped up, some of the haze in his mind clearing up with each syllable, “I am Janus, voice of lies and voice of truths. I speak the truth when I say you are _not_ broken you are _not_ worthless you are _not_ a villain. You are Prince Roman. Thomas’s creativity. Hopes and dreams and the future beyond. You are everything that gives life meaning. You are everything that gives him purpose.”

“I-”

“You’re allowed to make mistakes. You’re allowed to be unsure. But you can’t let it take away your self-worth. We want you Roman.”

“But-”

“We _need_ you.”

Roman could feel more tears splash out of his eyes. The darkness behind him screeched louder, but Janus’s words were almost like an anchor, powerful and unequivocal.

“Who are you?” Janus asked, his eyes returning to normal.

Roman gulped.

“I-I’m Thomas’s creativity.”

A hand around his ankle screeched. It went rigid and arched backwards before splintering and disappearing.

“Who are you?”

“I’m all of his hopes and dreams,” Roman said, his voice gaining strength.

“WHO ARE YOU?”

“I’m not a villain!”

“WHO ARE YOU?”

“I’m not worthless!”

“ _WHO ARE YOU?_ ”

The arms were all screeching, all writhing angrily in the air, glistening with black ooze and trying to latch on, but disappearing at the last moment. Roman took in a deep breath.

“I’M PRINCE ROMAN!” he screamed.

The darkness wailed, the sobs and screams raking again Roman’s eardrums. The shadow hands had all disappeared and the darkness coiled on itself, stretched, and wailed. Black threads erupted from it and tied together, like someone was ripping out its arteries and veins. It let out one last horrible cry and shattered into pieces.

Roman noticed that there were still two hands on his shoulders. He looked up to where Janus’s eyes were sparkling.

“ _Hell_ yeah you are.”  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please check out this AMAZING work of fanart that @rondoel made for this chapter, I'm obsessed with it 🤩  
> https://rondoel.tumblr.com/post/620015088320086017/hopes-and-dreams-and-the-future-beyond-you-are


	14. Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More amazing fanart?? Check out this INCREDIBLE work by @doydoune!! The expressions and the details and ahhh---soooo great 😭😭
> 
> https://doydoune.tumblr.com/post/620363916599607296/some-sketches-inspired-from-this-fantastic-fic-by

Roman wiped his eyes and smiled up at Janus.

“Now what’s say we get out of this wretched place?” Janus said and pulled Roman to his feet, then buckled himself. He waved away Roman’s concerned look, “The-ah. The voice of truth thing kinda takes a bit out of me.”

Roman looped an arm around him and helped him up the stairs. The sky was just within reaching distance.

“Together?” Roman asked.

“Together,” Janus smiled and they both reached up and touched it.

There was a _plink_ and a sudden burst of white light. Roman squeezed his eyes shut and waited a few moments before opening his eyes again. He heard voices from around him.

“But where could they have even gone?”

“I searched the entire imagination! My side and his!”

“Their functions aren’t gone so they have to be somewhere.”

“Oh gosh, oh gosh, oh gosh,”

Roman blinked open. He was standing in the living room with Janus leaning on him like a crutch. In front of him, Virgil, Remus, Logan, Patton, and Thomas were all huddled in the middle of the living room.

Roman waved his hand and a small shield appeared in it.

They were back.

“Uh. Guys?” Roman started and fought the urge to back up when the five of the whipped around like startled prairie dogs.

“ROMAN??” Patton screamed and tackled him, “Where were you? We were so worried, we went to go find you ‘cause we felt something happen and you’ve been gone for a while but we couldn’t find you anywhere and there were all these tree stumps and-oh hi Janus. JANUS!”

Janus waved from under him.

“You’re both ok!”

“Well actually,” Janus started and then looked at his stomach where there was no longer a gaping stab wound, “huh. Yeah, guess I am ok.”

Roman blinked. The cuts and scrapes on his hands and legs were gone too. The Subconscious injuries must have acted like the Imagination’s, gone as soon as you step out of the realm.

“Where did you two _go_?” Thomas asked, his voice wavering only slightly at the end. Roman raised an eyebrow and shared a look with Janus.

“It’s kind of a long story.”

-

By the time Roman and Janus were done explaining, they had formed a large circle in the middle of the living room. Thomas had gone to get some sleep and left them, but in the meantime someone had conjured blankets and pillows. A snack platter sat, demolished, in the middle of the coffee table.

“A _tongue_ monster?” Logan asked and pushed his glasses up his nose.

“A tip-of-the-tongue monster,” Roman corrected.

“And you said there was a chimeric mix of both hummingbird and chameleon?”

Roman nodded.

“And, would you describe the tongues as squirming or writhing?” asked Remus, looking at Janus.

Roman blinked at the two of them. Remus was jotting down sketches and Logan was writing furiously in his notebook. If they were dogs, their tails would have been wagging. Janus rolled his eyes.

“I wouldn’t know, I told you I was trying too hard not to get cut by its blades.”

“It had BLADES?” Remus squealed, “Man, I need to get myself down to the subconscious, these all sound like excellent additions to the Imagination.”

Logan nodded, “It does sound rather fascinating.”

Roman shook his head. He had to stop that particular train of thought in its tracks.

“No. No. Absolutely not. We only barely escaped thanks to that weird tongue rant you guys went on that one day. And thank god for it, I really need to start paying more attention to those,” he muttered the last part.

“What was that?” Remus asked and Roman blushed in embarrassment.

“I _said_ , I really need to stop ignoring you,” he looked at Logan, “both of you. You both kind of saved our hides in a way.”

They were silent for a beat, both Remus and Logan’s eyes wide.

“And you also said there was an entire _island_ ,” Virgil said, breaking the silence, “dedicated to Patton’s repression?”

Roman grimaced, “Yeah,” he turned to Patton, “we really need have a serious talk soon, Padre.”

Patton winced, but gave him a small nod, “Yeah. We will kiddo.”

“So wait,” Virgil said and put his hands out in front of him, “The black blocks, those were what? A manifestation of negative emotions?”

Roman cringed, “Yes? Maybe?”

“Why would they suck you into the subconscious?”

Logan tapped his chin, “If we take into account what Remy said, perhaps the black blocks are the part of Thomas’s mind that prunes away what is believed to be unnecessary. If a side doubts their own function, then the blocks may respond to that doubt and the subconscious is a level above complete fading.”

They were silent again,but then Remus waved his hand in the air, “Ooh! Ooh! I have a question. When you ripped that scale off the lizard monster, was the skin under it smooth or bloody?”

“Oh interesting. I wonder whether it depends on the molting season,” Logan added.

Janus scratched his head, Roman noted that his gloves had come back on.

“I wasn’t paying attention to its molting behaviors, I was trying not to _die_. And,” he glanced at Roman and smiled, “I would have been dead ten times over if it weren’t for Roman slashing and hacking away at every monster like a regular Hercules.”

“The Disney version or the canonically mythological one?” Logan asked.

“Disney,” Janus said with an eye roll and Roman felt his ears burn at the compliment.

He watched as Janus described his fights. Logan and Remus continued to scribble in their notebooks and Virgil sat on the edge of the couch, holding in winces at some of the description. Patton sat a bit far off, watching them from the corner of the room.

They hung onto his every word, gasping when Janus dramatically acted out his scenes. They even cheered when Janus described how they had wrestled themselves away from the darkness’s shadowy hands. Usually, Roman would want to act out the scenes as well, but he was content to watch and as he did, he smiled.

Maybe he was someone’s hero after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO!  
> If you’re reading this, it means that you’ve read to the end of one of my stories and it also means that you have ALL my thanks. I started writing stories during quarantine because I was bored, I had no idea that people would actually read them, or even like them! Your comments and kudos all fuel me and so does your support :’)
> 
> Like I mentioned, this story can be read on its own as platonic or romantic! BUT there is a sequel and the sequel IS romantic so for anyone who wants to read the sequel:
> 
> You didn’t think I’d leave it there, did you?
> 
> In the aftermath of returning home, Janus tries to sort out his feelings. What will happen when he tries to talk to Roman? Why was Janus acting so strangely in the subconscious? Are they both as ok as they believe themselves to be? And really, how is Patton doing?  
> All this and more in the sequel to Monsters of the Subconscious: The Serpent’s Heart!
> 
> (Regardless if you read the sequel or not, thank you so much for reading :) )


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